Know someone who speaks Norwegian?

Good morning, dear reading community!

I’ll get right to the point. I’ve four copies of SECRETS OF A CHARMED LIFE translated into Norwegian that I would love to give away to four readers who speak that language.

Do you have a friend or family member who would love to read this book in their mother tongue? Or maybe you’re learning Norwegian and need to read novels to familiarize yourself with the finer details. Respond below with a comment that you want your name in the hat and I will have random.org draw four winners on Sunday, February 21. I can sign and send the book to anyone in the US or Canada. If your Norwegian-speaking loved one lives in Norway or elsewhere abroad, it will be up to you to get the book to him or her, but I am happy to send to Aunt Asbjørg if she lives in the US/CAN.

These are beautifully crafted, hardcover books and they would love to be read! Good luck and have a great weekend!

Today’s the Day!

Today Secrets of a Charmed Life hits bookstore shelves! This WW2 story began first as just an image in my head of a teenage girl sketching wedding dresses in the tiny bedroom she shares with a younger half-sister. I could see Emmy in my mind’s eye imagining a life far different from the one she is living. She wants a happily-ever-after life where love and comfort are in abundance, and for her, that charmed existence begins with a wedding dress worn on that day a girl’s childhood dreams come true. I decided to set Emmy in London at the start of the war because I knew that even for a young woman not yet sixteen, war is a crucible. It is a tester of dreams and desires and determination. I knew the London Blitz was an opposition that would bring out the very best and the very worst in this girl, as war so often does.

Like many of my other novels, Secrets of a Charmed Life is historical fiction framed by a contemporary layer linked to the past. An American college student studying abroad at Oxford interviews Blitz survivor Isabel McFarland just when the elderly woman is ready to give up secrets she has kept all her life – beginning with who she really is. The story then takes the reader to England in 1940, where an unprecedented war against London’s civilian population is about to take place and half a million children are evacuated to foster homes in the countryside. Fifteen-year-old Emmy Downtree and her much younger sister Julia find refuge in a charming Cotswold cottage, but Emmy’s burning ambition to return to the city and apprentice with a fashion designer pits her against Julia’s profound need for her sister’s presence. The sisters’ lives are forever changed when—acting at cross purposes—they secretly return to London on the first day of the Blitz.

As always, if you decide to read this book, and I so very much hope you do, I’d love to hear what you thought of it. Your reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, and Barnes and Noble are appreciated more than you know. Readers trust other readers, and your honest reaction to any book of mine is the best kind of word of mouth. If you haven’t already ordered a copy of Secrets of A Charmed Life, today would be a great day to do that!

As Iwrite this, Secrets of A Charmed Life is #44 on Goodreads’ Top 200 most anticipated February releases, and #20 on Amazon’s hot new digital releases for February! What a wonderful way to release a new book into the wild.

There are a number of drawings for this book on the web right now. Here’s one of them. There’s an interview there where I shared some of what I told you above, plus lots more.

Thanks so much for being a part of my life. You are the reason I write.

Want to be on the Secrets Deam Tream?

In just three months Secrets of a Charmed Life will hit bookstore shelves. The release of a new book into the wild is always a thrilling time –for lots of reasons. I am always eager to hear back from readers, hopeful that they will tell me they like what I’ve written, and I’m always anxious that the book will do well out there in the big, wide world of other books!

After ten years at this, I’ve seen that one of the best ways to promote a new book is by direct word-of-mouth. People trust the people they know. And booklovers especially trust the opinions of other booklovers. Which is why I am looking to form a Dream Team of ten of my reading community members who will help get the word out on this book, starting in January and continuing on into the first part of February.

Dream Team members will receive an Advance Reader Copy (ARC) of Secrets of Charmed Life two months ahead of the general public, plus already-prepared content for Facebook and Twitter posts, as well as a signed, final copy of the book when it releases February 3, and a special gift from me that will include British tea, scones and jam (the book is set in London during World War II), plus my heartfelt thanks.

Dream Team members will agree to read the advance copy of the book (so that you can adequately share about it), post a short or long review to GoodReads, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble, commit to six or more social media posts on Facebook and/or Twitter between January 1 and February 15 related to the book (content can be provided if you wish). If you are a Dream Team member who blogs, I’d like to be your guest for a Q and A and to give away a copy of the book to one of your followers.

To apply to be on the team, just email me at susanlmeissner at gmail dot com with your name, where you live, how many Twitter followers and Facebook connections you have, your blog address if you have one, and just a sentence or two about why you would like to be on the Secrets of a Charmed Life Dream Team. I need to hear from you by Saturday, Nov 29. I will make the selections right away and let you know by Monday, Dec. 1. The ARCs will go out that week. I am open to having to dream members residing in Canada and Great Britain as well as the USA.

I hope this sounds like fun and that you will consider throwing your name into the ring! As always, I am so grateful to have you in my life and reading community!

All the best,

Susan

Tag: Secrets of a Charmed Life

Know someone who speaks Norwegian?

Today’s the Day!

Want to be on the Secrets Deam Tream?